Movies like Bugtaw (2016)
The best movies like Bugtaw (2016) are Gigi & Nate (2022), What Maisie Knew (2013) and Fast Girls (2012). If Bugtaw hooked you with its drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Bugtaw
Quick picks
- Highest ratedWhat Maisie Knew (2013)7.1/10 from 466 votes
- NewestEleanor the Great (2025)Released 2025
Gigi & Nate (2022)
A young man with a bright future suffers a near-fatal accident and recreates his new life with the help of an unlikely animal friend.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWhat Maisie Knew (2013)
In New York City, six-year-old Maisie is caught in the middle of a bitter custody battle between her self-absorbed parents—an aging rock singer mother and a distracted art dealer father. As both quickly marry new partners to strengthen their legal standing, Maisie is shuttled back and forth in an endless game of emotional point-scoring. Yet amid the chaos and upheaval, Maisie begins to find true comfort and affection in her new step-parents.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFast Girls (2012)
A street smart runner develops an intense rivalry with an equally ambitious wealthy young athlete.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJungleland (2020)
Stanley manages his boxer brother Lion but when a devastating loss in the ring leaves the pair in debt, an opportunity to recoup the cash leads to a series of misadventures that threaten to break the bond between them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAbove the Rim (1994)
Story of a promising high school basketball star and his relationships with two brothers, one a drug dealer and the other a former basketball star fallen on hard times and now employed as a security guard.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe River (1984)
Tom and Mae Garvey are a Tennessee farming couple battling violent floods to save their land. In addition to natural disasters, the Garveys fight to stop a selfish land developer and a local corporation from foreclosing on their farm. While Mae stays at home to care for their children and tend to the crops, Tom finds work as a scab at a steel mill to preserve his family's property.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHounddog (2008)
A drama set in the American South, where a precocious, troubled girl finds a safe haven in the music and movement of Elvis Presley.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSalomé (2013)
After the lewd and frenetic Dance of the Seven Veils, and with the solemn pledge from the very lips of Herod himself that she could have whatever her heart desires up to half his kingdom, wanton and proud young Salomé comes before her king with an unreasonable demand. Beguiled by John the Baptist, and then scorned for the sake of his god, lascivious Salomé—encouraged by her mother, the vindictive, Herodias—commands that John be executed and his head delivered on a silver platter.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Young One (1960)
A jazz musician seeks refuge from a lynch mob on a remote island, where he meets a hostile game warden and the young object of his attentions.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBlue Chips (1994)
Pete Bell, a college basketball coach is under a lot of pressure. His team isn't winning and he cannot attract new players. The stars of the future are secretly being paid by boosters. This practice is forbidden in the college game, but Pete is desperate and has pressures from all around.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRogue Agent (2022)
Conman Robert Freegard poses as an undercover MI5 agent and kidnaps countless victims amidst a high-stakes manhunt, until the woman who fell for him brings him to justice.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCardboard Boxer (2016)
Gentle and broken, a homeless man fights others on video for money but soon finds comfort in an unlikely friend and the lost diary of a young girl.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHands of Stone (2016)
The legendary Roberto Duran and his equally legendary trainer Ray Arcel change each other's lives.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGirl in the Box (2016)
The true story of 20-year-old Colleen Stan, a hitchhiking woman abducted by a young couple and held captive for seven years, during which time she's tortured and forced to live as a slave to her captors.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEleanor the Great (2025)
94-year-old Eleanor Morgenstein tries to rebuild her life after the death of her best friend. As a result, she moves back to New York City after living in Florida for decades.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMy Dinner with Hervé (2018)
An unlikely friendship evolves over one wild night in LA between a struggling journalist and actor Hervé Villechaize, the world's most famous gun-toting dwarf, resulting in life-changing consequences for both.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Pumpkin Eater (1964)
Jo, the mother of seven children, divorces her second husband in order to marry Jake, a successful but promiscuous screenwriter. Though they are physically and emotionally compatible, they are slowly torn apart.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHoly Lands (2019)
When lapsed Jew and former cardiologist Harry suddenly decides to spend his retirement as a pig farmer in Nazareth, Israel, the move deeply shocks his family and his new neighbours. Back in New York, Harry’s ex-wife Monica is trying to manage the lives of their adult children, Annabelle and David, as well as her own.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAmateur (2018)
14-year-old basketball phenom Terron Forte has to navigate the under-the-table world of amateur athletics when he is recruited to an elite NCAA prep school.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisResurrecting the Champ (2007)
Up-and-coming sports reporter rescues a homeless man ("Champ") only to discover that he is, in fact, a boxing legend believed to have passed away. What begins as an opportunity to resurrect Champ's story and escape the shadow of his father's success becomes a personal journey as the ambitious reporter reexamines his own life and his relationship with his family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBirhen Ng Manaoag (2005)
Four people come together when they're touched by the Blessed Mother in this uplifting drama. Working on a documentary about the miracles of the Virgin Mary, filmmaker Ana meets disillusioned seminarian Paul. Along with terminally ill Linda and pregnant teen Marie, the two discover roses blooming at the feet of the statue of the Virgin of Manaoag reviving their spirits and renewing their faith.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Mano Po 4: Ako Legal Wife (2005)
When Chona Chong (Zsa Zsa Padilla) learns that her wealthy husband Elton (Jay Manalo) is having an affair with two younger women (Cherry Pie Picache and Rufa Mae Quinto) -- and has even fathered a child with one of them -- her once-perfect life lies in ruins. Numbing the pain with Botox, liposuction and breast implants works well enough, at first. But then her only son (John Prats) drops another bomb: He thinks he might be gay.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Pacquiao: The Movie (2006)
Jericho Rosales portrays Filipino boxer Manny Pacquiao as he struggles out of poverty to become a champion and national hero. Yet when the pressures of his sport, his personal life and the high expectations of his countrymen take their toll, he falls from grace. With the help of his wife (Bea Alonzo), will he be able to rise once more to be worthy of being called "the People's Champion"?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Flor Contemplacion Story (1995)
The story of the Filipina domestic helper who was hanged in Singapore for allegedly killing her fellow maid is chronicled in a film that operates on various personal, social, and political levels. Both controversial and critically acclaimed, it has brought Nora Aunor numerous citations for her intense portrayal as the fallen heroine of the story.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Bataan (1943)
During Japan's invasion of the Philippines in 1942, Capt. Henry Lassiter, Sgt. Bill Dane and a diverse group of American soldiers are ordered to destroy and hold a strategic bridge in order to delay the Japanese forces and allow Gen. MacArthur time to secure Bataan. When the Japanese soldiers begin to rebuild the bridge and advance, the group struggles with not only hunger, sickness and gunfire, but also the knowledge that there is likely no relief on the way.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Blue Moon (2006)
Corazon (Boots Anson Roa), an old Filipina who lives in Boston, wrote to each Manuel Pineda in her home a letter. She hopes to find her love again. In the Philippines experiences of the old Manuel Pineda (Eddie Garcia), meanwhile, that he has cancer and has only months to live. He goes in search of his Corazon.There were two Corazons in his life: before the Second World War, he spent (Mark Herras) and his buddy Domingo (Polo Ravales) a lot of time with the shy "Cora" (Jennylyn Mercado) and the lively " Azon "(Pauline Luna).
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Virgin Forest (1985)
A story set in the Philippine Republic in the 1900s where a lass, a Spanish mestizo, and a fisherman are caught up by Macabebe soldiers who are trying to capture Emilio Aguinaldo.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
In My Life (2009)
A headstrong woman moves to New York and must come to terms with her estranged gay son and his partner.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Working Girls (1984)
Women cope with various problems while earning a living in the city.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Charlie (2014)
This is a story of a man named Charlie who is in pain from complexities of emotions caused by his tragic past. Now his friends, the ones he truly loves are also caught in this rollercoaster of events. It was a day of maze to complete the puzzle of Charlie’s past to answer the question. WHO IS CHARLIE?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Bugtaw?
The closest matches to Bugtaw are Gigi & Nate (2022), What Maisie Knew (2013) and Fast Girls (2012). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Bugtaw?
Start with Gigi & Nate (2022), the closest match to Bugtaw.
What is the highest-rated movie like Bugtaw?
What Maisie Knew (2013), rated 7.1/10 by 466 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Bugtaw?
Eleanor the Great (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
How are movies similar to Bugtaw chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Bugtaw, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.